


Summer Swimming

by soundofez



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Gen, and in which Nino tries to play matchmaker and screws up, in which Adrien does not know how to swim
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-10
Updated: 2016-04-10
Packaged: 2018-06-01 06:32:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6504580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soundofez/pseuds/soundofez
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Of course I know how to swim," he snaps, and then reins himself in. "I mean, I just. I don't like water, that's all." And it's true— ever since Ladybug and Chat Noir started protecting Paris, ever since Plagg first appeared to him, he's found himself less and less inclined toward large bodies of water.</p><p>Nino snorts. "You shower so much, and you hate water?"</p><p>Adrien flushes, remembering the two times that Chat Noir had pretended to be Adrien in the Agreste Mansion. "That's different," he argues. "That's <em>hygiene</em>."</p><p>"Yeah, sure," Nino relents, waving a hand. "So, am I teaching you or what?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Summer Swimming

**Author's Note:**

> This was a bit of a struggle, but I love how it turned out!
> 
> For jimeray. <3

Adrien is not particularly pleased to find himself hopping barefoot along sunbaked cobblestones in only swimming trunks, but Nino was so terribly excited at the prospect of summer and swimming pools that Adrien couldn’t turn him down. Instead, he’s steeling himself for the inevitable: water. Lots of water, all at once. “Be gentle,” he begs Nino, who laughs and nudges and points past him, toward the pool.

Adrien brightens at the sight of dark pigtails, so black that they reflect the blue sky instead of glowing warmer brown. “I didn’t know Marinette was here!” he exclaims to Nino, and then calls, “ _Salut_ , Marinette!”

She whirls and loses her balance and topples briefly out of sight with a surprisingly large splash. A chorus of children giggles behind her— Adrien grins and waves back at an excited Manon.

“A-A-Adrien!” Marinette splutters, resurfacing. “I, ah, h-hello!”

“Are you busy?” he asks, crouching catlike at the edge of the pool.

She glances at the kids forming a loose crescent behind her. “A bit,” she admits bashfully. “Swim class is about to start.”

“Ooh, are you teaching them?” Nino chimes in, a mischievous grin playing around his mouth.

“Yeah! I’m a lifeguard here,” Marinette beams back. Adrien is suddenly struck by how cute she is in her pink, floral swimsuit, and tries not to think about it. Even if Nino and Alya are dating now, it still feels wrong to have feelings for a girl his best friend had a crush on.

“That’s amazing,” he gushes instead. “You’re really cool, you know that?”

Marinette’s face reddens. “I-I-I should really get back to the kids. For class,” she stammers. Adrien blinks at her, wondering what he said.

“Adrien should join them,” Nino laughs, and his hands plant themselves on Adrien’s back and shove, turning everything into water and— something softer?

He splutters to his feet with the help of cold, strong fingers digging into the bare skin of his waist. His hands find purchase on narrow shoulders, and as he shakes water from his eyes, he realizes that he’s fallen onto Marinette.

“S-sorry!” he exclaims, pulling his hands from her shoulders, but his foot slips on a slick patch of pool floor and his face slams into Marinette’s collarbone, sending them both toppling. Adrien’s left knee bangs into the floor, ricocheting pain, and he hopes wildly that it hasn’t broken.

The children are clapping and giggling wildly when they resurface. Adrien clutches his stinging knee with one hand and Marinette’s shoulder with the other, his eyes clenched shut against the water.

“You two alright?” Nino asks, his voice trembling between laughter and alarm, like he hasn’t quite processed what just happened.

“I th-think so,” Marinette gasps. “Adrien?”

“I hit my knee,” he coughs, grimacing in disgust at the taste of pool water. “And I think I swallowed at least a liter of water.”

“Ah, geez, I’m sorry, man,” Nino apologizes, and Adrien hears him splash into the pool beside them. “Sorry, Marinette, we’ll get out of your hair.”

“A liter,” Adrien repeats, his voice wobbling against the pain of his stinging knee. “At _least_.”

“I should check on his knee,” Marinette hems nervously. “Here, sit on the edge of the pool?”

He finally squints his eyes open and sits as directed. Marinette pulls his hand away from his knee gently and runs cool fingers around it. “It’s a bit red, but it doesn’t look too bad,” she declares, her nervous stuttering replaced by a vaguely familiar certainty. “Stay here until it stops hurting. If it keeps bothering you, get it checked out, but it should be okay.”

“Thanks, Marinette,” he says softly, and smiles back at her shy grin. “Sorry for holding you up.” He nods at the kids, who have mostly lost interest in them and are now splashing each other.

“Sorry,” Nino says quietly, hopping onto the pool’s edge beside him as Marinette yelps and throws herself back at the children. “It’s my fault…”

Adrien shrugs. “Why’d you do it?” he asks, and can’t completely keep the sour edge out of his voice.

Nino sighs. “Alya dared me.”

“To _push me_?”

Nino looks abashed. “Uh, yeah. Something like that.” Adrien raises a skeptical brow. Nino squirms and continues, “Actually, to get you to take Marinette’s class. I screwed up, though.” He glances down at the pool, avoiding Adrien’s eye.

“What— you could’ve just _told_ me,” Adrien bursts, surprised. “Marinette’s cool.”

Nino chuckles nervously. “Yeah. I screwed up.” He nudges Adrien’s shoulder. “How’s the knee?”

Adrien probes the offending joint with cautious fingers. “Bit sore, but I think it’s okay.”

They sit watching Marinette teach her class, or, more accurately, watching the kids figuratively run circles around her and literally splash her at every opportunity.

“She didn’t really teach them, did she?” Nino comments, amused, as the kids climb out of the pool half an hour later.

“They seem pretty good at swimming, though,” Adrien points out. “Hello, Marinette.”

“H-hi,” she says with a timid grin. “I’m, uh. I’m free now. Is your knee okay?”

He flexes it experimentally. “Yeah, it feels fine,” he beams. “Your class looked really fun!”

“Adrien wanted to attend,” Nino explains, and Adrien and Marinette both gape at him.

“I never said that,” Adrien protests, as Marinette blurts, “Adrien, you can’t swim?”

There’s an awkward pause as Adrien avoids Marinette’s gaze. “I don’t like water,” he finally confesses, feeling embarrassed.

“But you shower so much!”

Adrien’s head snaps up to her, and then to Nino, who holds up his hands defensively. “I didn’t tell her!”

“I-I just thought, since you’re a model— um, never mind,” Marinette stammers. “I-if you want to learn, I can teach you? Ah, I’m sorry, you probably already have a tutor—”

“No, it’d be great if you could!” Adrien grins. “I don’t, um, have a tutor. Yet. Unless you want to—” He bites his lip to contain his babbling. “I mean. If you have time, I’d love to learn how to swim. From you.”

Marinette’s hands lift to her mouth. Adrien hopes it’s to hide a smile. “I’d really like that,” she finally warbles at him. “When are you free?”


End file.
